


History Repeats Itself

by Chandlure



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Drama, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Flashbacks, Friendship, Gen, One Piece - Freeform, Yellow Fever, mushroom, sick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-04-15
Packaged: 2018-01-14 03:23:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1250938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chandlure/pseuds/Chandlure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twelve years ago, Usopp's mother passed away from Yellow Fever. Now in the New World Usopp faces the same illness, but will he face the same consequences? 'Watching them in all those fights, one tends to forget that they are still kids. They get lost, they get scared and most of all one forgets that they still need guidance.' Strong themes of family and friendship. No pairings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_History Repeats Itself_

* * *

**Acute Phase: Day of Contraction  
**

* * *

Mordor Island, an uninhibited island right smack in the middle of the New World, is where we begin our journey. It was a summer island, and a blistering one at that. The forest, which made up almost 98% of the island, with its 200-foot trees and 50-foot bushes, did nothing to combat against the suffocating humidity that blanketed the area.

The Straw Hats had arrived on the island just past midday; calm waves lapped at their ankles as they climbed down the twisted ropes and onto the sea soaked sand. The group, save Franky who decided it best that someone stay with the ship, followed an ancient map that Nami had stolen off pirate passersby a week earlier. The map, barely legible with its numerous tears and faded lettering, was said to lead to an area on the island rumoured to be home to an ancient treasure.

Walking through the jungle had proved to be more strenuous than they had originally thought. The humidity and intense heat combated that of even Alabasta, leaving the group far more exhausted and irritable than they would have otherwise been. The animals, which stood five to six times the height of an average human, had no chance against the cranky Straw Hats who wanted nothing more than a cool shelter. Chopper, with his thick reindeer coat, barely made it ten minutes before giving up and turning back to the safe haven of the Thousand Sunny with Brooke.

It was nearing supper when Usopp had finally spotted something that was not trees or other forest debris. "A castle?" he questioned, his sharp eyes zoning in on the deteriorating building before anyone else. He turned to Nami and looked over her shoulder towards the small map clutched in her hands. "Is there anything about a castle on that map of yours? I thought this was an uninhibited island."

She glanced down at the map in her hand and turned it over to the scrawled writing in the back. It was illegible. Annoyed, partially because of the heat, partially because of the faded map that held very few clues, Nami glared at him. "Do you see any people, Idiot?" she snipped.

"Touchy," Usopp muttered to himself, running a hand through his sweat soaked curls to pull it away from his face. He grimaced at the wetness and wiped it off on his tank top. He looked over at Luffy who was trotting beside him looking for all he was worth as if he were about to keel over, "oi, Luffy. Are you okay?"

"So thirsty," Luffy whined, sending puppy dog eyes towards Usopp.

Usopp chuckled and rolled his eyes, "well, you aren't getting any of my water. You should have thought about needing water when you were giving yours to that flying bird thing."

"I was giving him water so that he would let me ride him!" Luffy pouted his voice defensive as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at his best friend.

"Oh that worked brilliantly," Usopp snapped back. "You lost all of your water _and_ you don't have a ride. Brilliant plan, _Captain_."

"Knock it off, it's too hot to be listening to you two bicker," Nami sighed and rubbed her head.

"Miss. Nami, would you like me to carry you?" Sanji asked, attempting to hide how fatigued he himself was.

"We're here," Robin stated and sure enough, they were. "This castle is very old; I would place it at almost a thousand years if not more going by the structure and the amount of deterioration it has been through." She squinted towards the top of the castle her eyes scanning as they brought their way down to the large, eaten away wooden door. Vines covered the building way past the roof, causing the castle to look almost as if the foliage were eating it. Then again, they were in the New World that meant it highly probable that the vines were in fact eating the castle. "I would say it has been at least five hundred years since someone properly maintained the castle, less if there was some kind of war."

"Is it safe?" Zoro asked from behind the group. His arms crossed in front of his chest as he studied the large structure.

"With castles this old there will always be traps that have yet to be triggered."

"Miss. Robin is so smart!" Sanji cooed, his pupils dilating into little hearts as he twirled around.

"I wonder where the treasure is- Luffy, Usopp, where are you going‽" Nami called out as the two boys made their way up the stairs and through the wooden door.

Relief crossed their features as soon as they entered the stone building and Usopp turned towards the others, "get in here! It's so much cooler than outside." He sneezed softly and shook his head, "If not a bit dusty."

"If you wish for treasure, Miss. Navigator, you should head to the lower levels." Robin informed her crewmate as she scanned the golden interior. "It would interest you to know that the walls have gold imbedded in them."

Luffy, Usopp and Nami turned towards her, "really‽"

"Yes, but I would caution against taking any of the gold out of the walls. It would cause instability in the structure and we will all probably be crushed to death on impact."

"Down we go!" Usopp said with a forced gusto, leading Nami to a flight of stairs.

"Keep your hands off Miss. Nami, you shit-sniper!" Sanji snapped, kicking his foot out to hit Usopp in the head, but the sniper was quicker and dodged the attack, taking the stairs two at a time. Luffy, not wanting to be left out of the fun ran down behind Usopp, his laughs and Usopp's screams echoing through the narrow staircase.

Zoro slowly made his way down the stairs, a small frown trained on his face as he looked around, an unsettling feeling rising in his chest. He moved to the side, allowing Robin to pass in front of him, his hand coming out to stop Sanji from passing him as the cook descended behind her. "What is your problem, shit-head?" Sanji sneered, "Scared of the dark?"

"Keh, as if something like that could scare me. I'm not Usopp," Zoro retorted, "do you feel anything weird? Like something is out of place?"

Sanji snorted, "yeah, your head. Now get out of the way so that I can help my gorgeous Miss. Nami find her treasure." Sanji ducked under Zoro's arm and started towards where the others had gathered at the bottom of the staircase.

"It's so dark in here, I can barely see anything," Usopp complained from Luffy's left, his hand lightly trailing against the walls as they moved inward. He gripped the back of Luffy's shirt in his other hand, intent on keeping his friend in close proximity. It would be a disaster if they were to lose him in the castle, who knows what sort of trouble the rubber teen would get into. Usopp's hand met with empty space, "there is a room here. Sanji, do you have a match on you? Maybe there is a torch somewhere."

There was the sound of the match meeting paper before a tiny flame gently illuminated the corridor in which the group stood. "Try not to touch anything; there is no way to know the type of traps that can still be activated." Robin advised as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. "There is a torch right above the door, Mr. Cook." She added, following Luffy, Nami and Usopp into the large room Usopp found.

"You think there are traps‽" Luffy asked his archeologist excitedly, "Usopp! We need to explore!"

"We really don't," Usopp protested, but did not fight as his friend pulled him towards another room connected to the one they were standing in.

"Keep an eye out for anything that might be treasure!" Nami called to them as they disappeared from view.

"The treasures you are seeking will most likely be rigged," Robin warned the younger girl as she passed her hand gently across an etching in the wall.

"It's Luffy and Usopp, they'll be fine," Nami said airily, waving her hand as way of dismissal. She huffed, and folded her arms, "there's nothing down here."

There was the sound of rumbling echoing through the room right before the room began to shake. Bits of stone fell from the ceilings onto their heads as Luffy's exuberant laughter and Usopp's fearful screams filtered into the room.

Zoro cursed and quickly followed Sanji out of the room towards the sound, Robin and Nami right behind them.

"Luffy! I am going to kill you! I swear on my mother's grave I am going to hog tie you and dump you into the freaking ocean the moment we leave this island!"

"What did you guys' do‽"

"We found a bunch of stuff!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning widely as he pointed behind himself to all of the gold piled on the floors and adorning the walls.

"We almost got _killed_ ," Usopp hissed, throwing his hand to the right and left of him where there were arrows stuck into the wall, broken bits of stone, and broken clawed traps scattered about the place. He ran behind Zoro and Sanji, feeling it safer behind them than in the middle of the room where there was the possibility of more traps still.

"Well, since you two are alive I think the most reasonable thing to do is gather all of the treasure and get back to the Sunny." Nami nodded her head as she examined the stuff lying around them, "Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, you guys get to work gathering all of the gold and anything that looks like we can get money for. Robin, could you watch over them while Usopp and I check upstairs for more treasure?"

"Sure thing, Miss. Navigator." Robin smiled and leaned against the wall behind her getting comfortable, her bright eyes scanning the room, watching for any possible traps that may remain.

Zoro rolled his eyes at the ceiling, muttering angrily under his breath as Sanji skipped and twirled around doing Nami's bidding. Luffy, while not completely ignoring what Nami said, was merely staring in wonder and laughing excitedly at all of the things they revealed as the other two lifted up piece after piece of treasure and placed them in rugs, and any type of cloth they found that they could to carry their goods in.

Usopp, merely glad to be free of the trap infested basement, was up the stairs before Nami had even finished giving instructions to the others.

Zoro kneeled on the floor, placing the treasure surrounding him onto a sheet that lay by his feet. He reached out to touch the last treasure in front of him, only to be stopped by a hand protruding from the floor. He looked up questioningly towards Robin who had a small smile on her face. "Don't take that one, it's trapped." He glanced down at the item again, merely shrugging and standing up, gathering the cloth in his hands.

"Luffy, step away from there," Robin commanded, her hands popping from the wall and holding Luffy in place. He had gone towards a golden religious statue, one that was obviously booby-trapped.

"Robin, let me go!" Luffy fought stubbornly against Robin's hands.

"If you touch that statue we could all be in serious danger," She explained firmly, her hands squeezing his shoulders before letting him go.

"Oh," He glanced at it and shrugged, "okay."

"Let's get going," Sanji threw a bag towards Luffy and another one towards Zoro before dusting off his pants and picking up his own bundle, "Miss. Robin shouldn't be in this dusty place any longer and it would be rude to keep Miss. Nami waiting."

Luffy cheered running forward, bag in hand, towards the stairs leading to the first floor. However, his foot caught a loose stone causing him to smash head first into the religious statue that Robin had warned him off of a mere few minutes earlier. He groaned, rubbing his head and squinting in confusion at the statue that had not moved. Had Robin been mistaken?

"Luffy, move!" Zoro grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt and pulled him out of the way just as the statue began to come to life.

Luffy's eyes widened, "that's so cool! Hey! Mr. Statue, do you wanna be on my- "

"NO!" Sanji shoved Luffy and Zoro forward, making sure that Robin was ahead of him before racing up the stairs towards Nami and Usopp who had begun screaming.

Usopp and Nami met them at the foot of the stairs both frantic and holding on to each other, "what the hell did you guys do‽" They both exclaimed, quickly following the others out of the castle as several statues began gaining on them.

Usopp took the lead, his sling shot in hand as he lead the group back out of the castle, "these statues suddenly came to life while Nami and I were searching one of the rooms. Freakiest thing I have seen since Thriller Bark. What the hell happened?"

"Luffy fell into a statue that he wasn't supposed to touch," Sanji grunted, "take one if these would you?"

Usopp stopped and slid his slingshot over his shoulder before relieving Sanji of one of the bags. The two of them stopping had caused them to lose the crew. This meant that the statues that they had lost were on their heels once more. "Separate, we need to get back to the ship before they get to us."

He took the right while Sanji took the left, both disappearing through the trees and shrubbery just as a guard of statues ran into the clearing where they had been just seconds before. Confused, the statues stood, moving their stone bodies from left to right. However, it was no use; none of the Straw Hats could be found. Resolutely, the statues decided to head back to the castle, satisfied that they had scared off the intruders.

o0o

Sanji ran, his long legs moving quickly as he jumped gracefully over fallen trees. He stopped, the ocean expanding in front of his eyes, the Thousand Sunny, bobbing happily in the water. The others, already having found the ship, were searching for their friends from the safety of the Sunny's railings. The chanced a glance behind himself and noted that the statues that had been after their blood where now nowhere to be seen. Sanji had hoped that didn't mean that they were after Usopp. He merely shrugged and lit a cigarette, sucking in a calming breath before heading back to the Thousand Sunny with the bag of treasure thrown over his shoulder.

o0o

Usopp ran, the sack of treasure he relieved Sanji of slung over his left shoulder, his trusty slingshot in his right hand. He swerved, first to the left then the right, never running in a straight line in an attempt to make himself a more difficult prey. He chanced a look behind himself and stopped short, his shoulders sagging in relief when he noticed that none of the statues were following him. However, there was another issue at hand to replace being chased by bloodthirsty statues. He was lost.

Usopp sighed, placing both the treasure and his slingshot on the ground. He squinted, glaring up at the sun, shielding his eyes. "The sun rises in the East and sets in the West… I can't remember if it's different in the New World or not." His eyes lit up upon remembering a fact. "I can make a compass and find my way back to the Sunny!"

He kneeled in the dirt and pulled his messenger bag over his head to lay it in front of him. He slipped his hand inside, biting his tongue in concentration as he looked for the old sewing needle he kept in there for cases of emergency.

"Yes!" He pulled the needle out of the bag and attached it to his shirt, once again moving his hand inside his bag, this time for a magnet. Unfortunately, for him, the last time he cleaned out his bag he accidentally left the magnet on his desk, never replacing it back into his bag.

"What am I going to do now?" He muttered to himself, pushing a lock of hair from his eyes. Usopp allowed himself to fall back against the tree behind him and hit his head against it, closing his eyes, "think, Usopp. You know this!"

"If you don't have a magnet… you can use wool to magnetize a needle… or silk? No, not silk, just wool. You rub the material for… gah! I can't remember!" Usopp ran his fingers through his hair pulling on the strands lightly. "10...60...90...30...100...70...100...100 times! Yes, that's it!"

He took the needle from his shirt and rubbed it vigorously on the inside of his messenger bag. His eyes glanced to the ground, looking for a suitable puddle to lean the needle on. Usopp then stood, his needle well magnetized, and plucked a leaf off the lowest branch of the tree.

Usopp yawned, slowly walking towards the small puddle he had noticed was ripping. He kneeled, placing the leaf in the middle and then the needle on top of it. Slowly he turned the leaf in the water and backed away, watching anxiously as it swirled in the water. The Sniper stared up towards the sky as the needle came to a stop, his eyes squinting up at the setting sun.

"Okay so assuming it's the same in the New World, that way would be West, which means," he twisted his body towards the way the top of the needle was pointing. "That would mean that that is the North." He closed his eyes in thought, "the ship is in the North East which means that I would have to go that way."

The Sniper nodded to himself, happy to know the path he would need to take. He nimbly extracted the needle from the leaf and wiped it on his pants before placing it in his pocket. He stood and brushed his pants off. If he hurried, he could make it as night completely falls.

"Ow!" Usopp complained, stopping short to slap his hand against the back of his neck and wincing. "Stupid bug," he muttered as he bent down to pick up his messenger bag and the treasure bag. He gripped the handle of his slingshot and made his way back to the Thousand Sunny.

Little did Usopp know, in a few days time, he would be knocking at dealth's door merely because of said stupid bug.


	2. Acute Phase: Day Three of Contraction

_History Repeats Itself_

* * *

**Acute Phase: Day Three of Contraction**

* * *

Usopp sighed contentedly, his long thin fingers tapping absent-mindedly against the green tablecloth adorning the dining table as he looked down at his drawing. He frowned and tilted his head to the side. It was a drawing of his mother right before she got ill that he had been working on for a week. To the naked eye, it looked finished, but there was something still missing from the piece. Slowly he ran his eyes down the page, but no matter where he looked and how carefully he could not pinpoint the problem. A surge of anger ran through his body as he let out a harsh breath through his lips and slapped the sketch pad onto the table, flinging his pencil on top of it.

Agitation started to take over the surge of anger as he pulled his goggles over his head, threw them beside his sketch pad, and leaned back tiredly. His eyes caught sight of clouds out of the window behind himself and his allowed his eyes to flicker from one cloud to another, but the whimsical shapes doing nothing to improve his mood. If the picture was missing something and Usopp could not find it, that means he forgot a fact about his mother and that did not bode well with him.

Usopp heard the telltale noise of his fork scraping against the table, an effect of having been knocked from its napkin, and tore his eyes away from the window to glare wearily at Luffy. The straw-hat captain eyed his last piece of potato as if it were a nice juicy steak. His long rubber arm was stretched, inching slowly towards its goal. "Hey!" Luffy exclaimed, his black eyes glaring into Usopp's own when the sniper suddenly rose from his position and shoved the rest of the potato into his mouth so that the other could not have it. Usopp's reflexes had become infinitively better since joining the straw hats'. Had they not, he would not eat. Well... he would not eat _a lot_ at any rate.

Usopp left his sketch pad and goggles on the table, and began to gather the dishes and cups from the other members, placing them in the basin at the foot of the table. In the background, he could hear Sanji giving Luffy a resounding no when asked for more food. Chopper was sitting beside Nami happily finishing off the rest of his meal, away from the prying hands of his rubber captain. Bits of potato, corn and carrot stuck to his fur along with some of the gravy that accompanied their meat, but he was smiling as if he was just given the world's biggest supply of cotton candy.

Usopp patted the young reindeer's hat as he passed by, a bread stick in his mouth as he finished collecting the rest of the plates. "Guys, why don't we go look for those Nargles I told you about last week? A few of my markers went missing and I suspect that they are behind it." He shook his head and chuckled at Luffy and Chopper's elated cries as they jumped up from their seats. Sometimes it was just too easy to keep them entertained.

"Hey, Usopp, do you think that the Nargles could've been responsible for the lotion I've misplaced?" Chopper asked innocently.

Usopp shot up from where he had been bending over the table towards Brooke's dish to look at Sanji suspiciously; the blonde's cheeks had taken on a feverish appearance. The sniper raised an eyebrow in a way that said 'are you freaking serious? I know it's been a while but geez,' before he snorted and shook his head, placing the last pieces of dinnerware in the bucket.

"Yeah, Chopper, I am sure the _Nargles_ are the ones responsible for that." HIs voice layered with sarcasm earning him a glare from the guilty party, but Chopper did not seem to notice. He nodded his head as he thought intensively about where the Nargles could have taken his lotion.

Usopp chuckled darkly under his breath as he picked up the bucket and walked past the serving island and into the dimly lit kitchen. He hung a right and placed the bucket beside the sink before sliding over and reaching over the sink to turn on the tap.

Over the drying rack hung a couple of dish rags, he took the one closest to the sink and wet it a bit with the water from the tap before turning it off. He rung out the rag and grabbed the crumb shovel that was beside the dish rags before walking back into the dining area. Everyone else had already stepped outside, but he knew Sanji would be back in a couple of minutes after his after lunch smoke.

Usopp hummed to himself as he wiped off the table being extra careful to get the crumbs into the shovel. After finishing with the table, he quickly wiped off the chairs. The door that lead to the deck opened and Sanji walked through, stopping shortly when he saw that Usopp was still inside. "You didn't have to clean up." He said, but there were no harshness in his words and he looked appreciative.

Usopp shrugged and made his way back to the kitchen. He passed the sink on the way to the trashcan and threw the rag in. "I like to clean when I have something to think about. Its fine, Sanji, don't worry about it."

Sanji walked into the kitchen behind him and took his place by the sink, turning on the tap and washing out the rag before wringing it out and placing it back on its hook above the drying rack. "Want to talk about it?" He plugged up the drain and began to run water into the sink, putting a bit of soap in so that suds would be produced.

Usopp tapped the crumb sweeper over the trash allowing the crumbs to fall in before kicking it back under the cabinet where it belonged. He leaned back against the counter, crumb sweeper back in its spot, as he rolled down his sleeves, "I think I am beginning to forget and I don't like it."

Sanji frowned for a moment before reaching over and turning off the tap. He pushed his bangs out of his eyes and turned his attention to Usopp. "What are you talking about?"

"My mother."

"Oh," Sanji let out a breath and nodded to himself, "it happens."

"Well, I don't like it. All I have left of my mother are memories, once I forget, well, then she really will be gone then wouldn't she?"

Sanji breathed through his nose and turned back towards the sink, reaching over and taking a couple dirty plates from the bucket and placing them in the soapy water. "Come here and help me with the dishes while I tell you a story." Usopp pushed himself off the counter and walked over to where Sanji was, taking a dry dish towel in hand.

"I was the middle child of thir-fourteen kids." Usopp pulled a face; he remembered all too well, what it was like coming from a huge family. He had no siblings, but after his mother died, he had stayed with family and lived in a house with over twenty people. He had moved in with Kaya's family a month later.

Sanji handed him the dish he was washing and reached in the water for another one, "if you think it gets a bit crowded around here at times it's nothing compared to my home back then. I shared a room with nine other brothers, two older and the rest younger than I. My mother used to have a hard time remembering all of our names.

"If one of us did something bad, the lot would get in trouble because she wouldn't know which of us did it." Sanji fell silent for a moment as his eyes shone with memories of his past. "My mother, she died in childbirth - the baby had as well, stillborn. She would've been my thirteenth sibling, Sabina; my parent's loved starting our names with S's." Sanji chuckled at that and shook his head. "It's no wonder they always got us mixed up."

Usopp took the next dish from him and dried it, keeping his eyes on the plate. He was fully aware that Sanji had a meaning for telling this story and that he never talked about his past before Baratie, however that did not stop Usopp from not understanding what he was going on about.

"About a month after my mother and Sabina passed, the rest of my family did as well."

Usopp sucked in a breath and worried his lip, taking another dish from Sanji and drying it quickly before placing it on the rack with the others. They stayed quiet for what seemed like an eternity for Usopp, washing and drying the dishes. It was only after the last dish was washed and Sanji moved on to the cups and Usopp had moved to place the dishes back in their respective cabinet that Sanji continued his story.

"There was a majour fire that engulfed our entire house," Sanji said bitterly. "It was set by my father. He had gone insane under the pressure of raising all of us when my mother died. When my siblings were all asleep he had taken gasoline and covered the entire first floor with it. Then he went into our rooms and covered the windows and other exits with gasoline as well. They didn't stand a chance."

"You were okay though, you are here." Usopp said quietly, his heart squeezing in his chest.

"I wasn't home that evening, I had gone out for a walk near the lake just outside my village. It was where I went to think about stuff, having a large family didn't leave room for any privacy. If my father had known that I was out I probably wouldn't be here either." Sanji's hands had stopped washing the cups and were merely lying in the soapy water as he spoke. He looked so sad and vulnerable at that moment that Usopp could not help but want to give him some form of comfort.

Usopp put down the dish rag and reached into the water to take Sanji's hand, he felt awkward however, and merely laid his hand beside Sanji's. It did seem to have the desired effect since Sanji smiled, much to Usopp's immense relief.

"My siblings, at times I would just sit down and try and write down their names. It's the triplets and twins names that I always remember, but, the rest? I have so much trouble just remembering their names." Sanji took a deep breath and rubbed his hand over Usopp's quickly before picking up the cup he dropped and going back to cleaning. Usopp took his hand from the water and dried it on the rag before accepting the cup.

"I found a technique recently that seems to help. I have trouble remembering details when I try to force myself to remember. Try to remember their faces, voices, personalities - it is near impossible. However, I have photographs of them up in my locker and sometimes during night watch, I take them out and look at them. When I am relaxed and just stare at the photos for a bit I can remember almost everything. The sound of their voices, the smell of the house- it is as if I never left."

"Do you think that would work for me?" Usopp asked hopefully, taking the last cup from Sanji and grabbing the others to place them on the cup holder near where Sanji made coffee and tea. "I have been working on a picture of my mother but something is missing- I can't put my finger on it and it's bothering me so much. I've never had trouble before."

"Why don't you come spend night watch with me tomorrow and we can try it?" Sanji suggested lightly, dumping the eating utensils into the soapy water.

"I'd like that," Usopp said brightly, smiling widely at the older boy.

Sanji let out a sigh and grabbed the rag before Usopp could pick it up again and began to shoo him away from the kitchen. "Now go find those Nargles with Luffy and Chopper. I have stuff to finish in here and you are only in the way!"

"Hey!" Usopp pouted, causing Sanji to smile brightly.

"Go! Have fun, I am almost done anyway and then I will be out with an afternoon snack for you guys."

"Okay, fine, I'm going." Usopp made his way out of the kitchen and through the dining area to the door that leads to the outside. He pushed open the door but stopped to look back at Sanji. The blonde had gone back to doing the rest of the dishes. HIs blonde fringe hung in front of his eyes and he whistled a soft tune to himself as he worked. "Oi, Sanji."

Sanji's head whipped up not realising that the younger boy was still with him in the galley. "Yeah, Usopp?"

"Thank you." He pushed the door the rest of the way and walked through, leaving a chuckling Sanji alone in the Galley.

"You're welcome, Kid." Sanji muttered to himself as he shut off the water and rubbed his hands on his apron. He turned towards the counter behind him and grabbed the inventory notebook from where it lay on the shelf above his head. As he walked out of the kitchen, he stopped to take off his apron and place it on its peg beside the oven.

Having made his way out of the kitchen, he walked over to the dining table and situated himself there, wanting to do inventory before handing out the afternoon snacks. However, when he sat down he noticed that Usopp's sketch pad and goggles were on the island that stood behind the kitchen sink.

He hummed to himself for a moment before getting up and walking around the dining table to where the sketch pad lay. Sanji knew it was wrong to peek without Usopp's permission- that would be like doing a background check or reading his journal, but after their conversation, Sanji was curious about what Usopp was talking about.

He looked over his shoulder towards the door to make sure no one was entering and touched his fingers to the cover of the pad before sliding them down to the slightly dog-eared part on the left and flicking the pad open to the middle. The page he landed on was blank so he moved a couple of pages back until he landed on the one of Usopp's mother.

When he saw the picture, Sanji could not help but gasp in awe. The sketch was so life-like it was almost as if you could hear her laughing. Her dark green hair had been gathered at the nape of her neck and her bangs were pushed behind her ear. Usopp had drawn her so that her head was leaning to the side as she listened intently to whomever was talking. Her mouth stretched into a laughing grin that was undeniably Usopp's and her eyes sparkled in a way that Sanji had only seen a couple of times in Usopp's own eyes. He could not help but chuckle when he saw that she and Usopp shared the same nose.

To him the sketch looked perfect- better than most photographs even. The picture had mostly been coloured in black and white save for her hair and eye colour that held an emerald-green hue. Sanji stared at it a moment longer before humming to himself and closing the pad. He tapped the cover gently as he mulled over what he had said, seeing no issue with the picture in any way, shape or form. Perhaps if Usopp felt something was missing maybe it was not in the picture itself, but something inside of Usopp.

o0o

When Usopp had walked out of the Galley he did not have to look far to find the crew.

Nami, Robin, Franky and Brooke were on the main lawn one floor below, the bags of gold from their adventure a few days ago were poured out onto a black and red-checkered blanket that Usopp and the crew usually used for picnics. Luffy and Chopper stood behind the others, their mouths opened wide in amazement at all the treasure that was spread out before them. Zoro was sleeping against the Mast for his afternoon nap per usual, not particularly caring about the treasure.

"Sorry I was taking so long, I was helping Sanji in the kitchen," Usopp announced himself rubbing his hands on his pants as he leaned over the rail. "Are you guys ready to go look for those Nargles?" He walked down the steps and stopped at the bottom one, not stepping onto the main deck. He squinted; a blinding light was reflecting off the treasure and bothering his eyes causing him to lower them to the ground. When he did so there was a small shiny object lying innocently beside the lowest step. He bent down and picked it up, allowing it to roll into the palm of his hand. He stared at it for a moment, feeling oddly entranced by the small jewel.

It was no bigger than the tip of his pinky finger and held an emerald-green colour, similar to that of his mother's eye colour. He rolled it between his fingers and smiled softly as his remembered his mother's face, her emerald eyes lighting up as he told her one of his many tall tales.

A sudden flash of white bloomed in his head and his vision blurred causing him to drop the jewel to the floor. He stepped off the last step and kneeled, hands pressed firmly against his eyes in trying to stop the sudden disabling headache and dizziness that overcame him. He breathed in deeply, holding the breath for ten seconds before letting it out slowly and repeating the action. The pain began to ebb away with each breath he took and soon it was gone again.

He opened his eyes slowly and noticed that Luffy and the others had remained blissfully unaware of what had happened. Their eyes and hands trained on the treasure that lay in front of them. He shook his head and picked up the small emerald he had dropped. He stared at it for a moment before slipping it into his front pocket. They would not notice it missing at any rate.

He stood again, ignoring the aching protest of his legs and arms as he did so. "Guys, ready to go look for those Nargles?" Usopp tried once more to no avail.

He sighed, estimating that he had about fifteen to twenty minutes free before Nami got sick of them staring and touching all of her treasure. He nodded to himself and slowly began to make his way back up the stairs to the washroom above the Library. He walked past the Galley and made his way towards the back of the ship. He knocked on the only door there, out of force of habit than anything else, before turning the brass doorknob and entering the Library. No one was there of course, the room lit only by the light of the sun streaming into the bay windows. Dust particles danced around him as he made his way to the ladder on the right side of the room. He climbed up the ladder feeling weaker than he normally would, taking his time up the steps to the washroom. When he finally entered the room where the sink resided he was slightly out of breath and was just a bit sweaty.

He frowned to himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of matches, lighting one so that he could see in the darkened space. He made a mental note to ask Franky to put a window in there as fire and wood did not mix well. He lit the candle beside the toilet door before moving further into the room. The flame cast a soft orange glow about the room, the light relaxing.

He pushed open the door leading to the shower the shower curtain aside and walked into the larger room to turn shower-head on. The water took a while to heat up and he hated walking into cold water. He walked back out of the washroom and laid the candle in its holder by the door before pulling his shirt over his head and undoing his pants, toeing off his boots and socks.

He leaned walked over to the sink and stared at himself in the mirror, smiling a bit at his reflection. He had grown a lot in the last two years, they all had. It was unbelievable to some degree just how much they had grown. He watched at the light from the candle flickered, casting shadows across his face. The playing of light and shadows making it seem as if there were things behind him that were not present. It reminded him of the old games he used to play with his friends at school.

"Light a candle and say 'Bloody Mary in the Mirror' she will show up and rip your face from your skull." He snorted at the silliness of his childhood games, shaking his head, because really, it was silly. "That didn't stop me from being too scared to try it though." He mused, "Perhaps now...?" He stared intently at the mirror, the shadows and light flickering across the glass. A shaky face appeared above his shoulder and he slammed his eyes shut- "just my imagination playing tricks on me! I-I did not even say anything so no one is there! When one stares at something long enough their brain starts making imagines because... well, things are ever-changing! Why would it register the same thing if it already knows it's there... hahaha?"

He quickly turned his back to the mirror and bent down, rooting in his pants pocket for more matches. He shakily lit a match and held the flame to the candles on either side of the sink and rushed into the washroom to light the ones adorning the walls. He sighed, feeling relieved and threw the used match into the toilet; it was much brighter in the room now. No one would come and rip his face off as he washed.

Wearily he back at the mirror, his image staring back at him nervously. "Perhaps playing that game isn't the best idea. We are in the Grand Line after all. Here, there may very well be someone in the mirror waiting to rip my face off."

He felt a shiver and ran into the washroom, slamming the door that lead to the toilet and sink closed in an attempt to protect himself from any monsters hiding in the dark shadows. He quickly jumped under the shower and gripped the knobs to the water tightly as he felt himself begin to slip. He straightened himself, taking a deep breath. "I'm just freaking myself out, I always do that."

He leaned against the cool tiled wall, allowing the warm water cascade over him as he took a few calming breaths. A heavy wave of fatigue began to sink deeply into his bones and he closed his eyes leaning his chin against his collar-bone.

Slowly he slid down the wall until he was firmly on the ground, allowing the warm water to pound over his head and shoulders. Pain once gain began to bloom in his head and his vision blurred once more as a wave of nausea overcame him, the room spinning violently. He pressed his face into his knees and closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to stop what was happening to him.

He contemplated that fact that him freaking himself out over something as stupid as a fictional character ripping his face from his skull was probably the cause of his current predicament. He never fell ill after all, so the only explanation was the current fluctuation of adrenaline flowing through his body.

Usopp blinked owlishly as the room set itself right. He did not trust himself to move however and merely sat there, his head leaning back against the cool tile as he continued to take in deep soothing breaths. He still felt a bit nauseous, but that too was slowly fading. A violent shiver began to wrack through his body; the water coming from the shower head no longer warming him as it had begun to turn cold. He gripped the water knobs above him and pulled himself shakily to his feet.

He slipped again, his hand tightly gripping the cold-water knob turning it to full force accidentally. "Gah!" A burst of cold water hit him face first and he stood there for a moment shivering before turning off the cold water completely in hopes that the hot water would at least stay reasonably warm. His legs shook and he needed to lean against the wall to keep himself up right. "What the hell is going on?" He muttered to himself, pressing himself against the wall and moving the shower head to hit him as he stood there, not trusting himself to stand on his own

Usopp stayed against the wall for a while not moving as the water fell upon him until there was a knock on the bathroom door altering him that afternoon snacks were about to be served. He let out a long breath and told Nami that he would be down in a few minutes.

Usopp pushed himself away from the wall, confident that he could stand on his own, and quickly ran the soap over his body and through his hair before rinsing the soap out under the now freezing water.

He shivered, cursing under his breath as he shut off the water, shaking his soaked hair out in before walking over to the towel rack on the other side of the washroom. He grabbed his towel from beside Luffy's and wrapped it tightly around himself. He was shivering, and felt tired and weak, but not so much so that he could not stand having a snack with his crewmates. He slowly dried himself off and left the washroom to throw on his underwear and pants. The towel now wrapped around his head in an attempt to dry his hair.

Usopp stood up straight and walked over to the mirror to study himself. He could not have been in the shower more than forty minutes but he looked as if he had aged a few years. There were bags under his eyes, his cheeks were hallowed, and he could hear, now that the water was not drowning it out, that he was breathing heavily.

He shook his head, knowing now that it was not a mere adrenaline rush, that something was wrong with him. He never had headaches, or felt nausea or lost strength in his body, not unless he was in a battle and had been seriously injured. However, he had not been seriously injured- not since their last majour battle over two months ago.

Realistically he realised that if he felt like this tomorrow that he would have to see Chopper about it and that they would have to notify the crew. Usopp groaned to himself, the last thing he needed was everyone worried about him- they would not leave him alone then!

"Usopp, are you okay?" He jumped at the voice and leaned down to see Chopper at the bottom of the ladder.

He roughly ran the towel over his hair before throwing it into the used towel basket to be washed. "Fine! Just lost track of time, I'll be right out!" He hollered down the ladder before throwing on his shirt and plastering a grin on his face. He slid down the ladder and greeted a curious and worried Chopper.

"Are you sure? Your scent smells a bit funny."

Usopp chuckled and picked up the small reindeer, "positive! Now let's go get some snacks before Luffy eats it all." He smiled warmly and marched out of the Library and down the stairs to the Galley with him in his arms.

He could keep this to himself for now. No need to bother the crew needlessly, it was snack-time after all.

o0o

It turned out to be a beautiful evening. A crescent moon hung mischievously in the cloudless, star filled sky, reflecting as a silver Cheshire Cat Smile in the rippling seawater. The air was warm and welcoming, drawing the Straw Hats from their various rooms of rest to spend time in the unique peacefulness that was their evening. Sanji had even gone as far as to get Franky and Zoro to bring the Galley table outside so that the crew may enjoy dinner on the lawn.

After dinner, Usopp happily played with Luffy and Chopper on deck. Climbing up the walls and ropes, searching under crates, digging holes and jumping out of various hiding places to scare each other. By the time it he was ready for bed he had all but forgotten his short bout of illness earlier that day. He felt happily exhausted now and only wanted to crawl into his bunk and sleep for eternity. However, Chopper had night watch that evening so Usopp crawled up to the crow's nest instead of into his bunk to hang out with the small reindeer. He always stayed with him and told him stories or played games to help pass the time.

When it was finally time for Robin's watch, around four in the morning then, Usopp carried a sleepy Chopper to the first floor where their cabin resided. Luffy was snoring contentedly in the bunk above his own and both Sanji and Zoro had somehow ended up on the floor again. By the looks it Sanji had a bad dream and were caught up in his sheets again causing him to fall into Zoro's bunk which resulted with them both on the floor. They looked comfortable however, so Usopp let them be.

Franky was nowhere to be found, but that was nothing new. He was either upstairs with Robin by now or snoozing in the factory below the boy's cabin. Brooke was sitting in the corner of the room in a soft chair that Usopp could not remember ever being there before. He was not asleep, he never was.

Usopp sighed and pulled down the blanket in his bunk before slipping in. He hugged Chopper close to his chest as he laid his head against his pillow and pulled up the blanket, covering them both with its comforting warmth. As soon as he settled in, he felt what little energy he had left leave his body. He was asleep in mere minutes.

He was not asleep for long. He awoke with a violent shiver and the stabbing pain in his head had returned with a vengeance. He shifted in his bunk, transferring Chopper to his stomach so that he could lie on his back. Usopp gasped, the pain shooting in his head and spreading across the muscles in his body.

"Usopp, are you okay?" Luffy mumbled sleepily, his head popping up over the side of his own bunk to look down at his best friend. Brooke had shifted in his seat to lean forward in case something was wrong and Usopp needed help.

Usopp screwed his eyes shut, the moonlight coming in from the window bothering them and threw his arm over his face as an extra barricade from the light. "I'm fine, Luffy. Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

"'Kay, night." In seconds, the straw-hat captain was snoring again.

Usopp sighed and snuggled deeper into his pillow, his hand lying against Chopper's stomach to keep him from falling out of the bunk. His head still pounded, but slowly sleep began to take him over and he decided not to worry too much about it. If he was ill, it was probably just a stupid little bug he caught. He would be better in the morning.

_To Be Continued_

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Random OP Rant:** I would just like to have on record that I think having a washroom/bathroom above the Library is a terrible design flaw. It annoys me to no end. I mean, can you just imagine what would happen if there were to be a leak and one of Robin's old antique books had been destroyed? Let me not even start on who would be brutally murdered if something were to happen to one of Nami's maps.
> 
> _An: The Nargles belong to J.K Rowling._


	3. Acute Phase: Day Four and Five of Contraction

_History Repeats Itself_

**Acute Phase: Day Four and Five of Contraction of Contraction**

* * *

"Oi, Usopp, are you okay?"

Usopp lifted his head from his cheek and blinked, turning his head towards Sanji from where he sat at the dining table. He looked down to see that most of his plate was still full and to the right and left of him to see that the chairs were vacant. Breakfast was over then. Usopp cleared his throat, "I'm fine, Sanji." He threw him a weak smile and leaned his cheek on his fist.

"Did you sleep well last night? You came in pretty late with Chopper." The cook questioned. He was standing behind the island at the sink washing the dishes from breakfast.

"I fell asleep as soon as I got into bed..." Usopp responded, falling quiet as he thought back to earlier that morning. Other than him waking up that one time he slept like a log. He shook his head and offered Sanji a bright smile. "Heh, heh! I guess I slept a bit too well!"

Sanji reached over and placed the cup he was washing on the drying board, his eyes never leaving Usopp. "I've had days like that," he said carefully.

Usopp ran a hand through his hair and smiled lightly, "then you know what I mean, yeah? I'm sure after I get some fresh air I'll be good as new!"

Sanji offered him a smile that did not reach his eyes, "do you want me to heat up your breakfast for you so you can eat it outside?"

Usopp looked down at the food on his plate and felt his stomach twist in protest, "no. I'm not feeling hungry right now." He pushed away from the table ad stood shakily to his feet. His fingers bit into the edge of the table as he fought to keep his balance. He leaned his head down so that his curls blocked Sanji from seeing the look of pain crossing his face.

Sanji cleared his throat, his eyes scanning over Usopp suspiciously, "go outside. I'll pack the food away for later."

Usopp smiled and pushed the chair in before making his way as quickly as he could from the Galley. He paused outside the door. He could go back to the boys' cabin and sleep a bit more, but that would lead to unnecessary questions. He turned left and took the stairs beside the infirmary that lead upstairs to his office. There, he would get the privacy he needed and stay away from any awkward questions that may arise- he locked himself in there at least once a week after all.

He pushed open the door to his office and closed it firmly behind him, leaning back heavily on the Adam wood. He sighed, pressing the back of his head against the door and running a shaky hand through his hair. The delicious smell of cinnamon buns wafted through the open window behind his desk causing him to place a hand over his mouth to keep himself from vomiting His stomach twisted violently for the second time that day and willed himself not to be ill as he walked over to the window and slammed it shut, cutting off the cinnamon scent.

Usopp fell limply into his chair and leaned forward to press his forehead against the cool surface of his desk. He felt heated and weak, his head hosting the starting set of a very active drum solo. He screwed his eyes shut and nuzzled his head into his arms as they came up to cushion his head.

He had a lot of work to get done. His pop greens needed cultivating and he needed to find out what exactly went wrong with the new ammo he created. It went off way too early and when Usopp tested it almost had taken his hand off. After all that was done he needed to go spend time with Luffy and Chopper before dinner.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked around blurrily for a minute, searching for the ammo that he had left on his desk the morning before. He caught sight of it on the far corner of his desk and reached towards it. HIs fingers did not quite reach, however, so he dropped his hand and brought it back under his head. Perhaps a nap was in order. Yes, after a nap he would be back to his usual energetic self.

o0o

Sanji frowned as he watched Usopp from under his fringe. While the rest of the crew was inhaling their dinner as if it were the last they would ever eat, Usopp was pushing his food around his place with his fork. He looked half asleep and when he did bring the fork to his mouth it was with a pained expression and the fork was void of food.

Sanji's eyes flickered over to Zoro who had noticed Usopp's peculiar behaviour and was watching him as he chewed his food. He had a hand around Luffy's wrist to keep the straw hat boy from stealing of his food, but when he let go, Luffy had instead went for Usopp's food. Sanji and Zoro frowned when Usopp had made no move to stop Luffy, or even seemed to notice that it was happening for that matter. Usopp never let Luffy near his food, not without a fight at any rate.

As Sanji's eyes moved back towards Usopp he could not help but note how out of it the younger boy seemed. His eyes were glazed over and a pained expression crossed his face when he so much as moved a finger. HIs breathing too seemed a bit off and every now and then it seemed as if he were panting.

What the hell was going on with the shit-sniper?

When the rest of the crew left the Galley, chatting happily amongst themselves and filled to the brim with food and beverage, Usopp had not even acknowledged that anyone had moved. Sanji reached forward and took the plate from under Usopp and frowned when the boy continued to just stare ahead. Zoro was on the other side of the table collecting the rest of the dinnerware and placing it into the bucket.

"Usopp?" Sanji tried, bending down so that he could look at Usopp more closely.

Usopp did not answer him, causing Sanji to panic. "O-oi, shit-sniper!"Sanji touched Usopp's shoulder and shook him violently.

Zoro stopping putting the dinnerware into the bin and placed it on the table beside Usopp. He crouched beside Usopp and placed a hand on his knee, "oi."

Usopp blinked and turned his head to look at his two worried friends, "sorry. What were you guys saying?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sanji snapped as he stood straight and reached into his pocket to grab a cigarette. He placed it between his lips and lit it, inhaling deeply.

Usopp stood quickly and laughed at him dismissively, "w-what are you talking about, I'm fine." He turned away from them so that they could not see the pained expression on his face from moving too quickly. His muscles ached in ways that did not seem possible to him, every movement he made was filled with an aching pain that he had not felt since he first began training during their two years apart.

He moved towards the door only to have a sudden wave of dizziness overcome him, causing his legs to give out from under him. Usopp closed his eyes tightly preparing himself for an impact that never came. He took a few calming breaths allowing Zoro to support him for a moment before pulling away and standing unsteadily on his feet.

"If you are sick you need to see Chopper." Sanji pressed, throwing his cigarette butt into the ashtray on the island and crossing his arms in front of his chest as he studied the younger man.

"I'm not sick," Usopp said unconvincingly as he raised his hands. At Sanji's and Zoro's stern glares he added, "I'm fine, really." He backed away slowly, schooling his expression to keep pain out of his face as he tried, once again, towards the door.

"Usopp," Zoro said firmly.

A look of anger and annoyance crossed Usopp's face. He felt weak and just wanted to get out of the Galley. "I'm fine I said! Just leave me the hell alone!"He turned and stormed (snail walked) out of the Galley, slamming the door (allowing the door to close on its own) as he left.

o0o

It was closing in on the witching hour when Sanji's night watch was interrupted by the sound of scraping on the deck where the boys cabin resided.

He poked his head out of the crow's nest cigarette poking out from between his lips, as he glanced down and watched as Usopp stumbled about. The younger boy had barely made it to the railing, his hands biting hard into the wood to keep himself upright. He had made himself comfortable on the railing and was gazing at the ocean. Something that was quite common for him to do and Sanji would not have thought anything of it had Usopp not been leaning a bit too far forward for Sanji's comfort.

"Oi, back up a bit."Sanji snapped, landing neatly beside Usopp. Had Usopp been feeling himself he would have jumped and comically complained to Sanji. As it was however, he seemed to not even be able to stand up correctly and merely glared wearily at the cook.

Usopp sighed and pulled himself up a bit, wincing as he did so and looked over at Sanji. The cook froze when he got a proper look at Usopp. The boy looked terrible. His cheeks were sunken and his skin pale, his eyes were still glazed and his breathing was even worse than earlier. "Sorry for disturbing you. I was just taking in some fresh air. Having a bit of trouble sleeping, heheh." His voice had a weak tint to it that made what he said sound completely true and completely untrue at the same time. "Shouldn't you be up in the crow's nest?"

Sanji threw him a smirk as he lit up a cigarette and leaned back against the railing, "came down to see who was clever enough to break into the Sunny with us knowing. Turns out, it was you!" He pushed back a strand of hair from his eyes and grinned cheekily at the boy beside him.

Usopp rolled his eyes, "hardly counts as breaking in when I live on the ship, Idi-" he gasped for breath and fell heavily to the floor, his fingers gripping into the railing in an attempt to keep himself upright. "Shit," he cursed under his breath as he struggled to get back to his feet.

"This is the second time this has happened, Longnose. What the hell is going on?" Sanji hissed, dropping his cigarette as he bent down to help Usopp stand.

"I'm fine, it's just fatigue." Usopp insisted as Sanji helped him up.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" asked Sanji as he stared wearily at his friend.

"It's only been about a day. If I still feel like this tomorrow I will go to Chopper okay?" Said Usopp with a sigh in his voice, "but I'm sure that after a nice nights rest that I will be my usual annoying self."

A chuckle escaped Sanji's throat as he shook his head, "if you don't tell him tomorrow than I will."

Usopp murmured his agreement before stumbling away from Sanji and back towards the boys' cabin, he tripped again, this time he was caught by Sanji who had been watching him closely. Sanji tutted and pulled Usopp's arm around his shoulder, half carrying him into the cabin.

"Just stay here the rest of the night, okay?" Sanji whispered as he leaned down to check that Chopper was not in the bunk before placing Usopp there.

"Mmhm," Usopp muttered as he snuggled deeply into his pillows, almost immediately falling to sleep.

Sanji hummed as he reached down and pulled up the blanket to Usopp's chin before turning to leave."

"Mr. Usopp is ill then? I thought as much but figured it wasn't my place to say anything to him."

Sanji jumped and turned to glare at Brooke who was sitting in his chair in the corner of the room. Brook's dark empty eyes glared back at him in the moonlit room, "why didn't you send him back to bed, Shitty-skeleton?"

"I assumed he was going to use the bathroom."

Sanji glowered at him before turning his back and storming out of the cabin and back to his post. He picked out the last cigarette from his pocket and lit it as he entered the crow's nest. He paced back and forth muttering to himself.

Sanji would not be getting any sleep that night when he was relieved from duty. Instead he would use the early hour to cook a big breakfast along with smoothies for later that day. The unsettling twist in his stomach refusing to leave.

o0o

Sanji had told Chopper.

It was around midday when Nami, Chopper and Luffy had stormed into Usopp's office, worried expressions marring their faces. It had caught the sniper off guard, who had been sitting on the floor with a marker in his mouth, blueprints surrounding him and a new addition to Nami's Clima-Tact in his slightly shaking hands.

"Usopp!" Nami glared at him, her arms crossed in front of her generous chest as she looked down at him.

"What?"He asked, not bothering to look up from the object in his hands.

Nami reached down and took the small circular piece from his hand and threw it onto his desk causing him to growl under his breath and jump up. Usopp reached back to grab his desk in order to keep himself upright as his head began to swim and dizziness settled in with his sudden movement. "Sit down you Idiot! You're sick!"

"I'm fine; I don't need you to baby me."

"I need you to sit anyway, Usopp, in order to give you a physical." Chopper chirped from his spot beside Luffy.

Usopp sighed and sat, hardly able to keep his eyes from rolling as the three of them gathered around him with crossed arms and stern expressions. How Chopper, in his tiny stuffed animal like form seemed to tower over him, Usopp would never understand.

Usopp ran his hand shakily through his curly hair as he stared back defiantly at his friends, "what?" Nami pulled out a mirror and held it in front of his face. He blinked at his image and looked up at her, "I'm sorry?"

"Look at yourself!"

Usopp stared at his image in the mirror. Truth be told he looked like crap. His hair was a tangled mess; his skin had an even deeper yellowish hue than the day before, the whites of his eyes taking on the yellow colour now as well. He was having more dizzy spells today than he had the day before and had had a small bit of blood come out of his eyes just minutes before the trio had stormed into his office.

"I am quite handsome, I know." Usopp said dryly in an attempt to lighten the mood. While it would usually get a smirk, or at least an eye roll, that was not the case this time.

"You're sick and you are in here working on your stupid little gadgets! You could _die_ , Usopp. Do you not realise that or are you just too stupid to care‽"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Usopp muttered, rolling his eyes. He had been thinking the same himself not that he would ever verbally admit to it.

"We have no idea what you have!" Nami insisted, "you could very well be dying or even have something that could kill us all! Did you even think of that? You could spread something to us that will take out the entire crew!"

Chopper walked up to him and placed his hooves on Usopp's left knee, "we're really worried about you! If you overexert yourself you are likely to get even sicker!" A small syringe appeared in Chopper's hoof, just where had he been hiding that? and was waved threateningly in front of Usopp. "I have no idea what you have or how dangerous it is. So if I see you pushing yourself too hard I will be forced to sedate you."

Usopp pushed himself back, pulling the chair with him in order to get away from the syringe wielding reindeer. "No, no... No, do not come near me with that thing. My can't-go-near-needles-or-I-will-die disease is acting up." He let out a nervous chuckle and shook his head.

"I will if you leave me no choice!" The tip of the syringe prodded Usopp's knee causing him to kick out and pull his knees against his chest.

"I said no! Touch me with that and I swear the only stories I will ever tell you again are ones that will make Thriller Bark look like Candy Land!" Usopp snarled, glaring hard at Chopper causing the small reindeer to drop the syringe to the floor and run and hide behind Luffy's legs.

His hooves hugged Luffy's leg tightly as he peeked out from behind them, "Ah! Usopp's being scary."

Luffy blinked as he looked down at Chopper before sliding his eyes over to Usopp. Nami was standing in the background muttering to herself so he decided that it was safe to ignore her for now. "From what Sanji says you've been really sick, Usopp, and you didn't tell us. We can't _lose_ you. You're the only sniper we've got."

"We're all just worried about you." Nami explained. "We realise that you hate to feel like a burden that you want to do everything you can to help, but you really don't need to. Especially not now. We can help Sanji with the cleaning and someone will happily take over your watches for the time being. I will take over your turn for the laundry and Luffy can mop the deck tomorrow." She threw a weary look at her captain who gave her a look as he picked his nose, "I'll get Zoro to do it."

Usopp let his feet down and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor. "Listen, I appreciate your concern, it makes me extremely happy, but..." He paused for a moment and took a few deep breaths. Mostly to calm himself but also because he was having difficulty breathing. "I rather just live through it until it goes away." He lifted his head to look them in the eyes, exhaustion colouring his features. "Look, I won't overwork myself and I'll let you guys take over when I get too tired, but I need to do as much as I can for myself."

Nami clenched her fists, shaking visibly with anger, but after a moment she merely sighed and rubbed her hand against her forehead. "You are such an idiot," she muttered. "So freaking stubborn and reckless."

Usopp snorted and threw her a cocky grin, "terribly sorry."

Nami reached down and took his hand, pulling on his arm to get him to stand. "Come on, up you get. Chopper is going to do a quick physical and then you are going to sleep. If you are better tomorrow and Chopper clears you, you can come into the city with us. We will be docking in the morning."

Usopp tensed before nodding and allowing himself to be pulled up. "Okay. Just give me a moment to put away my blueprints."

Nami gave him a stern look before nodding, "five minutes." She tapped Chopper on the shoulder and motioned towards the door. "Let's go g- Usopp!"

Nami grabbed his arm as he fell to the ground, his breathing labored.

"Lay him down flat on the ground!" Chopper commanded, "Luffy, move that chair out of the way." Luffy stood shell shocked, his eyes wide as he watched his friend struggling for breath. "Luffy, now, _move!"_ Chopper hissed as he motioned for Nami get away from him after she laid him on the ground.

Usopp's lips were starting to turn a slight blue colour as were the beds of his nails. He let out a cry and then he passed out, his arms flexing up before flinging themselves outward their movements stopping completely. "Nami, grab that jacket and place it under his head. I think he is having a seizure. I don't want him getting a concussion." Chopper whispered as he watched Usopp for signs that something else was about to occur.

Nami shot up and grabbed the jacket that was draped over the door knob. She raced over to Usopp and rolled up the jacket before placing it under his head. She squeaked and jumped away as Usopp began to jerk violently.

Nami reached out only to have her hand slapped away, "don't touch him!"

Nami sat back and watched wide eyed as her friend jerked on the floor, tears filling her eyes and her heart squeezing. She looked up to see Luffy staring blankly at Usopp, his eyes unblinking- he was obviously in some sort of shock.

Eventually, after minutes of waiting the jerking began to slow down and a minute later stopped completely. Chopper nodded to himself, "Luffy, help me get him on his side."

Luffy made no indication that he had heard Chopper. The reindeer frowned and turned to Nami, "help me move him onto his side. I need to make sure his throat is clear so that he doesn't choke and it'll help him breathe better."

Nami pulled on Usopp, but he only fell back to the floor. She sighed and tried again, starting when slightly larger hands covered hers and helped put Usopp on his side in a position he would stay in. She looked up to see Luffy frowning as he placed Usopp correctly.

"Are you okay?" Nami whispered, slipping her hand from under his and placing it on top to squeeze it gently.

Luffy continued to stare down at his best friend as the other boy took in a particularly harsh breath. He sighed and squeezed her hand back before pulling it back to his side, "fine, Nami."

Chopper was on the other side of Usopp's body, writing notes on a notepad that he found on Usopp's desk, muttering to himself. He placed the pad down with a sigh and shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked firmly.

"An average cold would not give Usopp a seizure and he does not have a past of them. This means that whatever illness he has caused it. It's good in that it narrows down the illnesses significantly, it's bad in that any illness I know of that has seizures as a side effect are mostly life threatening."

"When will you know what he has?"

Chopper cocked his head to the side in thought, "once he wakes I can draw blood from him and then begin to run tests and eliminate illnesses. I will begin with looking into his family history and if there is nothing there I will look into illnesses of the New World. I should be able to know what it is by tomorrow morning the latest." He examined Usopp for a couple more seconds before nodding. "He should be okay now. I'm going to go tell the others what happened. One of you should stay with him until he wakes. Once he does, call me so I can check and make sure everything is okay."

Chopper looked down sadly at Usopp before turning and leaving the room, as soon as he crossed the threshold he sniffled and let out a choked sob before rushing down the stairs to the second landing where his Sick Bay resided.

"Luffy, you can go. I'll stay with him." Nami whispered some moments later. She was sat near Usopp's head and was running her fingers through his hair in a calming motion. Luffy sat cross-legged beside his friend's chest, merely staring at him. The shock hadn't worn off yet.

"Nami, I'm scar-"

"Ugh," Usopp moved to his back and held a hand to his head. "What the hell happened?" He complained, rubbing his forehead and attempting to sit up. Neither Luffy nor Nami were having any of that however and forced him back into a laying position. "What is going on?"

"You had a seizure," Luffy said as he pressed down on Usopp's shoulder to keep him there. "You shouldn't be moving."

"I'm fine. Just got a bit of a headache," Usopp pushed Luffy's hand away and leaned on his elbows, hanging his head back so that he could see Nami. "Oi! Stop crying, Stupid!" Usopp stuck out his tongue at her as she gave a weak laugh, "I'm fine, really." He lifted himself up into a complete sitting position, "If I am completely honest, I feel better than I have in a few days. Well, minus the headache of course, but well, can't have everything I suppose."

He reached over and wiped Nami's tears away with the back of his hand, "so stop crying, yeah? Sanji will kick my ass if he knows that I made you cry."

"True," Nami muttered as she wiped away the rest of her tears. "Would you... would you like me to get you some water?"

"I'm really not dying, Nami." Usopp teased, rolling his eyes at her.

Nami rolled her eyes and stood up, rubbing her hands against her eyes again. "I need to go get Chopper anyway and need to update the crew." Nami looked towards Luffy worriedly, "Luffy will help you to the sick bay if you need it."

Usopp frowned and looked towards his best friend, "I think it's more I will be helping him there. What the hell is wrong with him?"

Nami shrugged her shoulders, "I think you scared him." She leaned down at patted Luffy's head before making her way out the door. "I'll be back soon if you aren't at Chopper's room by the time I finish."

"Aye," Usopp nodded, shooing her away. He waited until the door was closed before twisting in his spot and sitting cross-legged in front of Luffy. "Oi, Luffy?"

He reached out and squeezed the other's shoulder, shaking him violently, "oi, Luffy," he tried again with no success.

He sighed and pulled back only to have Luffy's hand shoot out and grab his wrist. He let out a gasp as he was pulled forward into Luffy's arms. He froze, the sensation of hot tears on his shoulder causing him to freeze momentarily. Once he got over the shock he did the only thing he could do, hug Luffy back.

"Luffy, what?"

Luffy squeezed him a bit tighter, "seeing you there... I thought I would lose you like I lost Ace. I thought you were going to die and I froze because I couldn't bear the thought of losing my best friend."

"Luffy..."

"I don't care that you are our only sniper, there are a million more of those that we could get."

"... thanks?"

Luffy shook his head, "even though they would never be as good as you because you are the best... we could always get another one." He stopped for a moment before nodding and continuing. "You... I am commanding you not to die. You can't die because you are my best friend and losing you would hurt me as much as losing Ace did. I... and I am not strong enough to deal with that. I will never be strong enough to deal with that. I know... I know that it is selfish to say something like this, but I don't care. I want to be selfish if it means you don't die. So I am giving you a captain's order. You can't die, okay, Usopp?"

Usopp snuggled his face into Luffy's shoulder and nodded, "yes, Captain." He hugged Luffy tightly one last time before pulling away. He looked down at his lap and wiped away the tears on his face an inconspicuously as possible.

When he looked up he saw that Luffy was still giving him a very stern expression that made the bottom of his stomach fall out, "... what else?"

Luffy hadn't bothered to wipe the tears or snot from his face; he only sighed and looked away for a moment as if to collect his thoughts. When he looked back into Usopp's eyes, he saw determination, fear, sadness and the air of command that Luffy possessed when he was about to say something extremely important... "Until you are better I am relieving you of Ballistics duty."

Had this been just a normal day, Usopp would have teased him about knowing such a mature word as ballistics. However, instead of teasing the other Usopp sucked in his breath and shook his head, fresh tears filling his eyes. "Luffy, no... please... you can't do this." He begged, sucking in his breath and squeezing his eyes shut willing the pain in his heart to decrease. "I don't want to stop. I'll be fine... you'll see."

Luffy looked to his side, his own heart hurting at the look of pain and sheer loss on his friend's face knowing that he had put it there. "You'll get better; I know you will, Usopp. But until then... you need to focus on getting better. I am so sorry that I have to do this, Usopp..." Luffy stopped short, the pain in his chest getting worse. "It's for your own good."

Luffy reached up and took off his hat. He paused for a moment before placing it firmly on Usopp's own head. He felt the tears in his eyes slip down his cheeks as Usopp finally nodded and pressed his forehead to Luffy's own, "I know... I know."

_To Be Continued..._

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